Menino seeking big boost in budget - The Boston Globe: "Mayor Thomas M. Menino is proposing the largest increase in the city's operating budget in more than five years, including an additional $6.9 million for the Police Department to upgrade fingerprinting and ballistics equipment and add 100 officers.The proposed budget of $2.3 billion represents an increase of $134.7 million, or 6.2 percent, over the current year and includes a wide array of initiatives, such as teacher education and mentoring, foreclosure prevention, and small-business loans. But most of the new funds are focused, directly or indirectly, on improving public safety as the city faces a surging number of homicides."